CAPIZ – Gov. Fredenil Castro ordered an investigation on how the previous administration utilized the P20-million Capiz Scholarship and Educational Assistance Program (CSEAP) fund of the provincial government for 2020-2021.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) Committee on Appropriation chaired by Board Member Jonathan Besa will take part in the probe.
Board Member Thea Faith Reyes who chairs of the Committee on Education previously stated that only P1 million is left of the P20-million scholarship fund.
She further claimed that the scholarship program did not conform to the provincial ordinance relative to its implementation.
Reyes said documents relative to the scholarship program turned over to her did not include the Master List of Scholars, Official List of Scholars for CSEAP; Official List of Scholars Categorized per Ordinance No. 269 Series of 2021; Entrance Examination Form for the admission process for CSEAP; and Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) between the provincial government and the concerned schools.
Also, added Reyes, the computer units and laptops where all information about the scholarship either malfunctioned or were reformatted.
Also, based on the vouchers and payrolls in the liquidation of budget for School Year 2021-2022 from Provincial Accounting Office, Reyes said they found out that there were 2,533 verified and paid scholars which include 1,234 Kabalaka Scholars and 1, 299 Old Scholars (Aksyon Agad).
According to Reyes, 1,514 scholars were paid under Private Merit Scholarship; 49 scholars paid under Environmental Management, Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture & Fisheries Scholarship (EVAF); and 970 scholars paid under Educational Financial Assistance Program scholarship (EFAP); but there were no listed scholars under Public Merit Scholarship category.
Moreover, Reyes disclosed that there were supposed to be 36 scholars under Environmental Management, Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture & Fisheries Scholarship (EVAF) who will receive P10,000 each per semester, but these 36 EVAF scholars were transferred under EFAP wherein they can receive P1,500 each. However, in actual, they allegedly only received P1,000 each./PN
